Getty Will the 49ers be forced into a Brandon Aiyuk trade in 2024?
There’s still a lot of football to be played for the San Francisco 49ers — we expect so, at least — but for much of the NFL, 2023 is drawing to a close. And that’s got many turning the focus to 2024 and what might be done in the upcoming offseason. Though it is far from the minds of the 49ers and their fans, one of the hot topics that figure to bubble up in the coming weeks is the potential for a Brandon Aiyuk trade.
Of course, folks in the Bay Area don’t want to hear that kind of chatter. But when the realities of the 49ers’ talent bonanza start to come into focus — they have a lot of very good players who will need paying — the 49ers will have to make some hard choices. And trading Aiyuk, a fourth-year wide receiver, could become a necessity to keep the books balanced.
That’s one driver behind a proposed deal from Bleacher Report published January 2, one they’re calling a trade that “makes too much sense.” In it, Aiyuk would be shipped off to Jacksonville for a first-round pick and other draft considerations.
49ers Would Prefer Not to Deal
Bleacher Report’s Alex Kay noted that Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence needs added help, and that the team has some questions about whether receiver Calvin Ridley is a true No. 1. That’s where trading for Aiyuk would make enormous sense for Jacksonville. He’s piled up 1,317 yards receiving on 72 receptions this year, adding 7 touchdowns. And he’s still just 25.
“While the Niners would reportedly prefer not to trade Aiyuk due to his fit in the offense and strong chemistry with burgeoning quarterback Brock Purdy, salary-cap constraints may leave them with little choice in the matter,” Kay wrote.
“If Aiyuk becomes available, the Jaguars should be extremely interested. … If the Jaguars opt to extend Ridley, the move would cost them a second-round pick as part of his trade conditions. Jacksonville could instead allocate that type of capital toward the acquisition of Aiyuk, who will likely cost a first-round pick plus additional draft selections.”
That’s not a bad haul for Aiyuk. The cuts the team would have to make elsewhere — star tight end George Kittle, for example, or some of the team’s defensive talent — could force the 49ers into the move.
Brandon Aiyuk Trade or Holdout?
The 49ers do not have to make an Aiyuk trade next season because he is under contract. The team picked up his fifth-year option, worth $14.1 million, last winter. Spotrac projected him to have a market value of $22.8 million per year, putting him in line for what the site projected as a $91.4 million contract over four seasons. Given the expenditures the 49ers have coming due, that could just prove to be too much.
Over the Cap projected the 49ers to be already $7.5 million over the NFL’s $242 million salary cap for next season.
That is why Aiyuk could be moved. He would certainly have suitors. He has a Pro Football Focus grade of 92.0 this year, which makes him the No. 2-graded receiver in the NFL. Aiyuk certainly is aware of his skyrocketing value, and if the 49ers forced him to play for the $14.1 million he is owed, Aiyuk could conduct a holdout, much as Nick Bosa did last summer.
Chances are the 49ers want to avoid that, though, and, like it or not, trading Aiyuk is the most productive way to do so.